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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2007 
In Mexico, Help Slow But Sure After Flooding Disaster
 Pablo Perez - Agence France-Presse
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| | Military trucks hauled bottled water, food and clothing to Mexico's flooded Gulf coast as rescue workers in helicopters and boats worked furiously to retrieve thousands of victims stranded on rooftops. (Associated Press) |
Villahermosa, Mexico - Rescue workers and police were out in force Saturday still trying to help locals in Mexico's devastated southern Tabasco state - 80 percent under water after its worst natural disaster in decades.
Most of the Belgium-sized state was inundated flooded after seven rain-loaded rivers burst their banks in the flat, flood-prone region.
The floods affected more than one million residents, half of Tabasco's population, and one death has been confirmed so far. Patrols were still searching for victims Saturday.
Many thousands of people were trapped at home. With water as deep as two meters (6.5 feet), many desperately tried to flee, waiting as long as three days for a rescue-boat pickup from atop their roof or as they clung to tree branches. Thousands poured into neighboring states Chiapas and Veracruz seeking refuge.
But many others holed up despite the flooding, refusing to leave at their own risk, fearing looters would take all their possessions. Looting in fact has proliferated as thieves sought to take advantage of open season on abandoned homes and businesses.
Carlos Mario Ramos, 75, had been slow to leave his home, and said he was happy "the water is down a bit. But at this rate it is going to take a week or two to go down to normal."
Local crops were completely wiped out, and a farm association put the pricetag at 480 million dollars in losses.
Health officials have meanwhile started to fret about looming health risks from open sewage and the spread of disease-carrying mosquitoes. Dengue, cholera and diarrhea outbreaks now are very real possibilities, they said.
During the crisis, some 69,000 people have managed to get into some 600 government shelters, federal social development Minister Beatriz Zavala said.
Saturday some local people got what they thought was the best news in days as waters in the overflowing rivers finally began to recede a bit for the first time.
But forecasters said that with a cold front due to move into the area there could be even more rain in store.
Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos admitted that shelters were jammed. He said authorities were planning to open new emergency facilities at sports arenas and possibly at a bull ring.
In the state capital Villahermosa, which has 750,000 people, several neighborhoods were under as much as two meters of water after the Grijalvo river overran its banks on Thursday.
To escape people were traveling along the city's streets in boats as if they were canals.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon said there were 7,500 military and police staff working on rescue and safety operations in Tabasco.
Still there were signs of lawlessness. A supermarket outside Villahermosa was looted and picked over on Thursday by residents of a nearby neighborhood, state officials said. |
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